Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was a representative democracy which ruled Germany from 9 November 1918 to 30 January 1933. The republic was named for its capital of Weimar in Saxony, and it established a new German constitution on 11 August 1919 after the overthrow of the German Empire. The new republic faced hyperinflation, large-scale political violence between leftist and rightist paramilitary groups, and poor relations with the occupying forces of the Allied Powers, and the German people suffered from immense poverty. This led to the rise of both communism and fascism, both of which sought to use the people's anger to lead revolutions.

Both the rise of the Spartacist League and the far-right Kapp Putsch were put down, limiting the power of the leftists and rightists in Germany and bringing an end to much of the violence by 1923. After the far-right Freikorps put down the communist uprisings, the government had the Freikorps disbanded, and the government maintained the small and ineffective Reichswehr as its official military; Germany was not allowed to have a navy under the Treaty of Versailles. For the rest of the 1920s, there were street clashes between the fascists and the communists, and the fascist Nazi Party gained popularity among the German people due to its promises to reunite the German peoples, to bring an end to the hyperinflation in Germany, and to make Germany a power again. After the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1926, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was imprisoned, but he was released from prison and was active in politics again. In 1933, he was elected Chancellor of Germany, and the Reichstag fire led to Hitler suspending the power of the parliament, creating a totalitarian state that became known as Nazi Germany.